US adds 1.15 GW of large wind, solar capacity in Jan 2019

(PRNewsfoto/Florida Power & Light Company)

March 13 (Renewables Now) - Large-scale wind and solar power plants with a combined capacity of 1,150 MW came online in the US in January 2019, according to an update by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

The biggest power generator to start operation in the first month of the year was the 465-MW natural gas-fired Lackawanna Energy Center expansion in Pennsylvania. It was also the only non-renewable power plant coming on stream. The 202.5-MW Upstream Wind Energy Project in Nebraska and the 161.3-MW Pine River Wind Park in Michigan were also among the biggest newly completed installations in the US in January.

Most of the new solar power capacity for the month is located in Florida. There, Florida Power & Light Co (FPL) put on stream four solar power plants of 74.5 MW each, while Tampa Electric Co brought online roughly 170 MW of photovoltaic (PV) parks.

The table below shows details on January capacity additions for the main sources of electricity in the US.

Capacity in MW

Jan 2019

Jan 2018

Cumulative

Coal

0

0

264,490

Natural gas

465

40

528,190

Nuclear

0

30

107,980

Wind

519

1,226

97,180

Solar

631

711

37,100

The regular monthly updates by the FERC also contain details on proposed capacity additions and retirements in the next two years. By February 2021, the US is expected to add over 100 GW of wind power generation capacity and 77 GW of solar capacity. Natural gas comes third with over 69 GW of proposed capacity additions. Meanwhile, almost 16 GW of coal power plants are to be retired.